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A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of sharing nude scenes from protected movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

According to a police document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous individual shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been given a 7-month suspended jail term for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge ruling that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

He shared them in the subreddit he was a administrator of.

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to ask for clips of particular performers.

In 2023, advocates reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, filmmakers and producers, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were circulated in the group, told local media at the time she believed there was a difference between appearing unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations last month.

In a statement following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "significant" signal "that infringements of creators' rights has repercussions".

The ruling is considered unique in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's work cannot be utilized in a way which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar informed the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could affect other countries is unclear.

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".